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SMC Basketball: Belles hope to rebound at Trine

Cole Schietinger | Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Coming off a 63-59 home loss to Kalamazoo, Saint Mary’s will visit Trine today in search of its sixth win of the season.

The Belles (5-15, 3-8 MIAA) are looking to snap a four-game losing streak, their second-longest of the year, with another victory over the Thunder (10-9, 4-6). In those four losses, fouls and free-throw shooting have been major issues for Saint Mary’s, who shot only 52.2 percent from the line in its last game.

The Belles defeated Trine 59-43 in the first meeting between the teams Jan. 9.

“Trine has some very good outside shooters, and they do a great job of reading the defense in their motion,” Belles coach Jennifer Henley said.

The victory over Trine marked one of the Belles’ best all-around efforts this season. The team finished the game with a season-high in rebounds and near season-highs in free-throw shooting and steals.

Sophomore forward Ariana Paul turned in a great performance against the Thunder, recording a double-double with 18 points and 20 rebounds. However, Paul is studying abroad this semester and will be unavailable for the rest of the season. In her place, freshman forward Eleni Shea has begun to make an impact, scoring 12 and 16 points, respectively, in her last two games.

Henley said she has been impressed with the overall talent in this year’s seven-player freshman class.

“We have a very young team this season, and, over time, every single player has improved from where we started back in October,” she said.

Coming off a 50-47 win over Olivet, Trine will come out fighting for its first home win since Dec. 21. Since that date, Trine has won only three of its eight games. Trine has struggled against Saint Mary’s in the recent past, losing two of the last three meetings with the Belles.